Odisha Krushak Mahasangha (OKM) president Bibhudhendra Pratap Das has severely condemned the felling of trees for establishment of a beer factory and the police lathi-charge on protestors at Balaramprasad village in Dhenkanal district recently and has demanded a judicial probe into the incidents.
Stating that the Government had in the Assembly revealed that a total of forests on a total of 6,900 sq km had been destroyed for industrialization and forests created on equal area, Das said a CBI inquiry should be conducted to bring out the truth behind the Government claims.
“The Government has often claimed that forest coverage has increased in the State. There is no truth behind it as ganja trees grown on thousands of acres of land have been imaged in the forest- coverage photo taken by the Forest Survey of India. The State Government is misleading people with help of this photo,” alleged Das, a former MLA of undivided Dhenkanal district.
To substantiate his allegation, Das said Rs 3-crore worth ganja plants were recently destroyed by the police and excise personnel in the Phulbani jungle area.
He suggested that thousands of acres of unused land along rail lines in Denkanal and other districts can be used for establishment of industries. He said the valuable old sal trees felled for industrialization can be re-created